Trackable untrackable!

[+Sylvan Seekers]

Hi

I'm not really sure what to do. I released my Travel Bug Herdy last May and in August he was apparently placed into a Geocache called City View in the West Midlands in the UK. However, if you click on the City View geocache, it says that an error has occurred and that you cannot view the details of a cache that hasn't been published.

 

I have tried sending a message to the person that placed Herdy into this cache, but have received no reply. Obviously, if no one knows that the cache is there, no one is going to retrieve it.

 

Can anyone give me advice on how I can get my TB moving again? Is there anyone who can find out why this cache has a name but is apparently unpublished.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[+The Blorenges]

I suggest you contact geohatter, who's the reviewer for that region of UK and explain the problem. He might be able to help in some way.

 

MrsB

[Pup Patrol]

I had the same thing happen with my second coin. It was picked up, and "placed" in a new cache. For whatever reason, that cache was not published.

 

I emailed the cache owner, but never received a reply. He hasn't logged in since August. I don't know if the coin is actually sitting out on a trail somewhere, or in the backpack of the cache owner.

 

I finally gave up and marked the coin as "missing".

[+Bhob]

if there is a glitch somewhere, then all bets are off

 

but if the system is working as it is supposed to, then I am aware of only one way that this could happen

 

some people use an un-published geocache to store trackables

until a geocache is submitted for review, it sits in an un-published "limbo" condition

(another method used to store trackables is to use an archived geocache)

if this is the case, only the geocache owner can drop trackables in the geocache in question

 

so the only person who could have put the trackable there is "Pwilliams83"

I'd suggest waiting a day or few, and see if you get a reply from them

 

as mentioned above, a reviewer should have the ability to look at the geocache

said reviewer should then be able to determine if there is a problem

or see if it is indeed an un-published geocache, owned by the person who dropped the trackable there

[+hzoi]

I've had a number of coins stolen this way. Hopefully this is a cache that will actually be published, and not just a coin thief's hoard.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

Thank you, Mrs B, for the suggestion about Geohatter. I have made direct contact.

 

It's quite worrying to hear that some people use unpublished geocaches for hoarding trackables, I do hope that isn't the case.

 

Bhob - Pwilliams83 doesn't seem to have logged in since November so I don't know whether he'll have got my message. It has been a week or more since I tried to sent the message though.

 

Thanks for the replies so far, it seems such a shame that trackables go missing so easily. In such a community spirited game, you'd think that people wouldn't do this. Herdy isn't even a coin, it's just a regular travel bug attached to a keyring!

[+The Blorenges]

Thank you, Mrs B, for the suggestion about Geohatter. I have made direct contact.

 

It's quite worrying to hear that some people use unpublished geocaches for hoarding trackables, I do hope that isn't the case.

 

Bhob - Pwilliams83 doesn't seem to have logged in since November so I don't know whether he'll have got my message. It has been a week or more since I tried to sent the message though.

 

Thanks for the replies so far, it seems such a shame that trackables go missing so easily. In such a community spirited game, you'd think that people wouldn't do this. Herdy isn't even a coin, it's just a regular travel bug attached to a keyring!

 

I had a quick look at your travel bug and the Pwilliams83 profile and it looks like it might be somebody who's started caching, done a handful of caches, then thought, "I think I'll put out my own cache", does so, has it turned down by the reviewer for whatever reason... and promptly loses interest.

 

(By the way, you know that if you click the "View Map" link on your TB's page you can zoom in and get a fairly good idea of whereabouts it is?)

 

MrsB

[+gpsfun]

I also had a quick look and it appears the cache owner may be working on obtaining permission from a property steward to hide the cache. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

MrsB, I did know I could locate it, but I'm right on the South Coast and won't be heading up in that direction for months. Thanks for the advice though.

 

Ooo, gpsfun, how do you know that? Or do you have access to info that I don't? What is a property steward?

[Keystone]

It's inappropriate to label Pwilliams83 as a hoarder, so let's please stop that witch hunt. The user is trying to get land manager permission for their cache, in which this trackable was placed.

[+Ike 13]

He's a reviewer so he was able to see the page. Maybe a reviewer can send you the coords and maybe then you could contact a local give them the coords and then they could see if the cache is in place.

[Pup Patrol]

Accusing anyone of being a trackable thief is uncalled for in these public forums. If you don't have irrefutable evidence, then it's unseemly to do so. If you do have some sort suspicions, the forums are not the appropriate venue to air these suspicions.

 

None of us knows what the situation may be, unless we are the cache placer or a reviewer.

 

In the case of unpublished caches, who knows what the story is? Unless you're the cache placer or the reviewer, then the reason(s) for not publishing is (are) unknown. A cache not being publishing is not unusual, and certainly no reason to be accusing someone of nefarious actions.

 

In the case of my coin being dropped into a cache that ended up not being published, it's hardly a reason to be suspicious.

 

For all we know, the cache placer may have fallen ill, or perhaps even had passed away. This is what I'm wondering about a formerly active cacher, who suddenly stops logging in.

 

Whatever the case may be, I'm no longer interested in releasing trackables after only 2 experiences of "losing" them. My track record is very poor at this rate, so I'm not encouraged to play this part of the geocaching game again.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

Oh dear - please understand that I have not labelled, and have no wish to label, this or any other Geocacher as doing anything wrong. I have contacted him and received no reply, but I do not read anything into that. For all I know, he has simply changed his email address, not logged on to the Geocaching site and so has no idea that I've tried to contact him.

 

I was merely hoping to find out what ways I could employ to try to get my Trackable moving again. I have no wish to offend or upset anyone. Apologies if I have inadvertently done so.

 

I do thank those that have provided very sensible advice and also for the understanding that the geocache is in the process of being activated. I hope that it will come on line soon and then will be retrieved and go onward on its journey. Perhaps the reviewer may do as IkeHurley13 suggested and provide me with the coords so that I can find someone who could possible try to retrieve the TB.

[+thecaswellfamily]

Don't give up hope! Our first trackable, Light Up Lego Man, had a similar fate. Just when we had given up on him though, he swung back into action and is now happily traveling thousands of miles from home.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

Oh that's really good news! I have hope :-)

[+hzoi]

My intent was solely to relate what's happened to several of our coins and to express my hope that this is not the case here. Didn't mean to insinuate that the person holding the trackable was a thief. Apologies -- I could have worded my post better.

[+gpsfun]

He's a reviewer so he was able to see the page. Maybe a reviewer can send you the coords and maybe then you could contact a local give them the coords and then they could see if the cache is in place.

Sorry, but it would be inappropriate for a reviewer to advise anyone of the location of someone's unpublished cache. I understand that it might be seen as helpful in some cases, but that's a slippery slope to be avoided.

[+TerraViators]

You could also ask the cacher to simply drop the TB in another cache rather than waiting for this cache to publish. They might do it. I would certainly do that for a fellow cacher.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

Have have emailed again and asked the geocacher if he could either retrieve the TB and put it into another cache or even post it back to me. Hopefully he is still at that email address. If not, I'll have to wait for the Geocache to be published and for it to move on naturally.

[+Sylvan Seekers]

I just thought I'd update and bring this story to it's ending.

 

My Travel Bug is on the move again. The Geocacher concerned retrieved it from their unpublished cache, explaining in the log that they were experiencing problems with getting site permission and moved my trackable on to another cache.

 

Thank you for all the replies and I'm sorry if this caused a little controversy, that was never my intention. At least this is one untrackable trackable that has a happy ending :-)

 

Happy Geocaching!

[+terrkan78]

That's good news! Thanks for sharing. I like hearing about happy endings.